Truschinsky documents have arrived!

As mentioned in an earlier blog, there are documents in the Estonian archives related to my earliest confirmed ancestor. This guy is certainly the most interesting distant ancestor. He died of "St. Edward's Fire" and was sued for failing to fulfill a contract to use a mill, as he was a miller. All of these documents (about 60 pages) are related to that issue. The documents are primarily in German with the exception of two pages which are in Estonian. I expect to find some great information. I would be VERY pleased to see if they refer to him or his family at any point as Kurschinsky.It will be quite expensive to get all of the documents translated, but I expect it will be well worth it.

To the rights is the cover page to the series of documents. I have found other members of my family tree on the Estonian website noted above, but certainly nothing this juicy!

Labor Day

In response to the prompt from geneabloggers, I've decided to post a brief entry about the occupations of my distant ancestors.

I think that most people who research their family history would like to find something particularly stunning such as an ancestor being someone particularly famous (though not infamous...), royalty, rich, etc... My grandfather who passed away in the mid-1980s claimed we were related to a "baron". I think he may have even said it was a Polish baron, but that would be inconsistent with his view that his heritage was entirely "German".

I've never found anything (beyond a reasonable doubt) about anyone being particularly famous. I have, however, noticed that many of my ancestors (and all of the direct ancestors back to at least the 1830s) have been skilled and I have yet to find any that were listed as being farmers or peasants. I've had a couple of millers and smiths, one medical doctor and a few mechanics/machinists. Nothing particularly exciting from a 21st century perspective, but they were part of a relatively small portion of the population in Latvia at that time.

Stalin's housekeeper?

I came across a genealogy discussion forum which was focused on the name TILL. My post was the only one in TEN YEARS that inquired or even alluded to TILL in Latvia (except one other...) Pretty much all of the others involve the US, Germany or Great Britain.

The only other mention was the following quote:

"Name Carolina Till is mentioned in a book "Twenty letters to a friend" by Svetlana Allilueva. She says that their " apartment in the Kremlin was run by a housekeper, a German from Riga, Latvia, named Carolina Till..." " She was a charming old women, neat and immaculate and very kind..." The year was 1929-1933. G, Elrod

I have two TILL females with either a first or middle name of Caroline and they were born around 1860. That would make them about the right age to be described as a "charming old woman". So...I google this Svetlana person and I soon learn the it is the sole daughter of STALIN! She is still alive and lives in rural Wisconsin but is quite the recluse.

I would guess that since I have never come across another TILL in my research of documents focusing on Latvia that this person is one of "mine"!

Kurschinsky and Latvia

Are you researching Kurschinsky genealogy -particularly in the Baltic area? If so, I have information which may be very, very useful in aiding your search! Contact me if you want me to share it with you.

Australia and other updates

Did you know that websites can be enabled to track who visits the site? It is a useful tool because you can see their search parameters, from where in the world they came, how many pages they visited and for how long. People who visit the site might be searching for "genealogy Latvia" or "Truschinsky" or "Gangnus" or "Kurland, Lettland", for example.

It is interesting in many respects, but one factor I find continually amusing: there is a "relative" in Australia who had quite clearly expressed strong interest in my research and said he was willing to share whatever he felt comfortable sharing. I made the mistake of giving him a glimpse of my research and then, despite many attempts to contact him (though spread out over quite some time), he just stopped replying. The amusing part is that he continues to visit the site, yet isn't polite enough to send a note. I had wondered at the reasons for this behavior. It seemed as if someone told him not to write or maybe his father shared some sort of sordid detail about my grandfather or grandmother about which I am unaware. My father did call his father in Australia and he described the attitude from Helmut as "less than friendly". I suppose when you research family trees you may find such people, huh? If that were the case I'd want to know! It would make the research all the more interesting! It is for that reason, many of my breakthroughs are not posted here. I am an economics teacher, so I state, "NO FREE-RIDERS HERE!" :-p

Lydia Trusinsky Has Passed Away

My grandmother, Lydia Erica (Till) Trusinsky has passed away (4 October 2009) . She was born in Latvia and was a part of the ethnic German community there (Baltendeutsche). She died in Florida at the age of 96 years old. She was a refugee in World War I and World War II. She moved to the USA in 1949 with her husband and three children -specifically to Minnesota. There, she continued her career as a seamstress. Her husband died in 1983 at the age of 72, while her youngest son died in 1988 from a heart attack at the young age of 42. She continued to live in Minnesota until just a couple of years ago, though for years before that, she had stayed in Florida with her daughter, Sigrid. She is survived by her daughter, Sigrid, and her son, Karl, as well as her 5 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Brigitte Truschinsky, part 2 FOUND

She has been found! I am currently corresponding with a relative of mine named Karina from Latvia. She is the daughter of my father's uncle. Her mother either chose to remain in Latvia after the Germans were pushed out by the Soviets or returned to Latvia from a displaced persons camp after the war. I do have a few relatives (who, again, where ethnic Germans) who chose to return to Latvia after World War II. One relative said "you can't ever escape the Russians". Well, I inquired about August Johann Theodor Truschinsky and what I knew about him (apparently married twice and had three children, though we only knew the name of one, "Brigitte"). I enclosed an old photo we had in my letter to her with these facts. She "looked up" this person and found her! I don't know how she went about looking up this person, but she told me that they had a great conversation and are now friends! She shared that Brigitte had a sister named Erica who died in 1993 and also a bit about August -a man I had been trying to find out more information about for what seems to be quite some time! She said that August was a member of the Latvian Legion -a unit made up of ethnic Latvians who faught for the German army in World War II. Others might more accurately describe them as fighting against the Russians, not for the Nazis. He survived, but was captured by the Soviets and sent to Moscow for some period of time. All of the allies (except the Soviets, of course), after investigating the role of the Latvian Legion in World War II concluded that they were, indeed, clearly electing to fight the Soviets, instead of really fighting for the Nazis. The Finns did the same thing, but in the role of allies not actually a part of the German military machine. Indeed, documentation from the German military demonstrates increasing concern about the loyalty of the Latvians. I am looking forward to learning more about him and his daugthers. A major bummer of this information is that it doesn't seem to show that he had any male children, so that I still have yet to find a link between the various "Trusinskis" and "Trusinska"s (Latvian spelling of Truschinsky) in Latvia with our Trusinsky/Truschinsky's in the USA.

Brigitte Truschinski

There is a Brigitte Erkens-Truschinski in Germany. When I first found this person on the internet, I was initially very happy. My research shows that I have a 2nd cousin who is named Brigitte Truschinsky who was born in Latvia in 1936. I looked further into this name and found her AIM "handle" and her profile said that she was 55 years old. That would mean that she was born after 1950, so it isn't the same person. Bummer.

A letter from Latvia!!

I just got a very nice letter from Latvia from a relative on my father's paternal side of the family. Her name is Karina and she is my father's cousin. It included a photo of their mutual grandmother. It was very detailed in her description of what her mother was like. In essence, it looks as if her grandmother had a very significant and positive role in her upbringing.

I plan to write her back quickly with more questions and will include a few photos of our own and also a basic family tree that shows how we are related and to whom I am referring when I have more questions.

This is GREAT news!!

On a slightly less positive note, we got information back from the Latvian government as a result of our query through their embassy. While I haven't viewed the information myself (my dad ordered it and had it sent to his home, of course), we were seeking a birth date from one individual (his grandmother on his mother's side) and hoping for a next-of-kin information on another individual. We got a birth month and year but not a location (a very necessary point to find more ancestors in that line) for the grandmother and nothing -pretty much- other than a death date on the other individual. I have not concluded, however, we are at a "dead end" with either individual, because the census records for the 1800s have yet to be posted online and there may be leads for the grandmother.

Overall, not much there...so far.

A Latvian connection found...

...for someone else. :p I made contact with someone in Latvia who shares a similar name. He gave me a bit of information (I LOVE google translator!) It has yet to be determined that he is a relative of mine, but -based upon the information that he sent me- he is very likely related to someone in the US with whom I've been in contact on a limited basis. I sent the US guy the info and told him to contact me if he was interested in learning more about or getting the contact information for the guy in Latvia. I hope he responds. Of course, I am hoping this leads to some connection to my family tree.

трусинскис!

Someone found my blog from Russia! "Trusinskis" is spelled "трусинскис" in Russian! I don't think I ever posted it here, but somewhere I found an item online that told of someone having a housemaid or servant named Trusinsky while living in Moscow. I wish I could find that entry -I have looked. I added "трусинскис" to a list of terms that would be used to direct people to this website for search/googling purposes.

It is unlikely anything much will come from this, but you have to always expand your chances and every little bit may help. Given the ethnic makeup of Latvia both now and in the past, it is almost a sure thing that I have relatives in Russia.

a new source found

I was contacted a few days ago by a woman of Latvian descent. She found me through the message board on ancestry.com. She suggested a Latvian website for me by which I could contact people with a similar surname in Latvia. In fact, she did her own preliminary search and noted how she found around 20 people with the name Trusinskis or Trusinska (the female version of Trusinskis). One has to be invited into the website and she graciously offered an invitation which I, of course, accepted. I will post any successes that I have!

Lithuania

Someone from Lithuania emailed me through this website. Their name is a variation of mine and they do seem interested in learning more. Good news -especially considering I haven't work on my research very much as I have been so busy with work and getting our house ready for sale!

Oh, I did have my dad send a request to the Latvian embassy in Washington in which he requested some vital records, as they provide that service for a very small fee. We should be finding out something in the next month or two that will hopefully take us one step closer to finding a living Trusinsky relative in Latvia and also further back on the "Gunther" family line. I won't publish the specific information because if people want to learn it, they will have to contact me directly and share some basic information they have, but chosen not to share...(ahem...Australia...) (damn, you'd think they'd at least send a note hinting at or explaining their sudden lack of interest or possibly suspicion)

Family crest?

Here is an image from a gentleman with the last name of "Treschinsky" whom I had emailed. He commented on the fact that he did know of some relatives in Riga, as well as Kiev. I wonder if I will find any basis for my heritage being related to this image...

I got an answer from Roberts Trusinskis!

"Declined". HAHA. I sent him an email a couple of times through what appeared to be his work email address. No response. So, I saw that he had a profile on "LinkedIn.com" and paid a small fee to send him an email there. I just got a message back saying that my message was "declined" with the reason given as "inappropriate".

I am only barely annoyed. What is it about someone who doesn't have the level of curiosity to respond to a "hey, we may be related" note that included an explanation?? The note clearly wasn't spam and doesn't solicit any information unless we were both convinced that there was a biological relationship -and the information in that instance would be very limited. Is the suspicion a legacy of the Soviet era?? At least now I know that I shouldn't bother to contact him again. I did ask that he reply if he weren't interested so that I would know not to bother him any further.

If he is a descendant of Johann Theodor Truschinsky -as is possible- I won't contact him.

We do have our source in Latvia who will likely know of this person and any other "Trusinskis" if they are indeed related. Indeed, I probably should have only pursued that route.

DNA Results are in

They arrived late last night. There are 12 exact matches to people in the FamilyTreeDNA.com system. I ordered the most basic, "12 marker" test. To further refine the results, I will have to order the 37 marker test. Of course, the more matches the greater the likelihood of a close biological relationship.

It is unlikely this will yield much new information for my genealogical research, unless I get others who share a similar surname to take the test, as well. I can think of a number individuals I would like to take the test but given they don't even reply to emails, it is unlikely they will take a DNA test for this purpose.

Oh, one more thing: overall, the most matches were with people in Norway (as a percentage of those in the FamilyTreeDNA.com system). I did find that to be interesting!

August Johann Theodor Trusinskis/Truschinsky

I found what I was looking for. I found a birth record for August Johann Theodor's first child. Don't get this wrong, but I am disappointed because it is a daughter, not a son. I am a bit disappointed because when she got married (if so) she very probably did not retain her family name. If it were a son, he and his descendants would be easier to find! I just sent an email to a gentleman in Latvia who may be of some help. I sure hope he responds! (UPDATE: That was the "Roberts Trusinskis")

Jakobs Kirche

A new film has arrived which I will review on Saturday. It has birth records for the late-1930s at Jakobs kirche. I am hoping to find a birth record for a child of my great uncle -whose first marriage I now have documented.

Linking them up

I think I have made a specific link between two of my largest Trusinsky files/threads of research. One is a specific birth document for Eduard Truschinsky. The parents shown on it coincide with the parents of my 2nd largest file of Truschinskys. The occupation of the father is the same in both documents, as well. Additionally, the largest file centers in Livonia -before moving to Riga- while the 2nd largest file is in a different part of Kurland. The link for the two files is in a part of Kurland where they all come together, with dates, names and occupation aligning.

I have four files of Truschinskys of which I have been unable -to this point- to link together. All of the files have overlapping individuals in terms of witnesses to various births. That is not concrete evidence, but is certainly is circumstantial enough for one to assume there is a link. Of course, I need to do a bit more research (as usual), but I am beginning to feel more confident in making the link and possibly continuing for another generation or two. One of the documents suggests Prussia for a place of birth for an individual (finally!)

So much more will be made clear when I get around to ordering or examining online (when they are posted) the revision lists for Kurland and the Russian census of 189x! I just hope they still have records for the areas that I need...

That brings me to another, possibly stunning (okay, the most stunning thus far) revelation about the Truschinsky line...

steps forward but also nothing

SIX films arrived this weekend at the LDS. I am really, really hoping for something on one of them regarding the oldest Truschinsky line of research. That doesn't mean I am expecting something there, as it involves a specific region, but isn't quite for the years I want. However, there may be some other, illuminating records there. Two other films are related to a family who married into the Till family. One record is another film for the Lemsal area. I don't expect to find anything there, as I have already reviewed it and it isn't any more comprehensive than what is online. Finally, I am going to review passports issued by the German embassy in Riga. I am really hoping to find something there for one of my main lines of research. Again, "hoping" doesn't mean "expecting".

I am also trying to contact possible kin around the world, but I continue to fail in getting a response from...anyone.

I have a genealogist in Germany investigating the degree to which it is possible to access public records for some relatives I know had died in Germany in 1968 and 1977. As I had explained to him, the goal is to establish contact with living relatives.

How many variations of Trusinsky are there??!!

I search for variations of my family name and have found -as I have mentioned before- at least four other versions of the name in church documents for people of whom I am quite sure I am related. Now I search for "Trescinskis" and over 2000 hits come up! I wish someone from Latvia would email me and say (if this were true), "Um, Trusinskis and other, similar names are far more common than you suspect. So, it is not likely there is much of a relationship." Maybe that is why some people that I had sent emails in Latvia had not replied (of course, language may be an issue...)

Some success

I did have some success with the last three films that I had ordered and examined. I found four or five marriages. One marriage was for my granduncle -August Johann Theodor Truschinsky. The name was bit difficult to read for the individual he had married, so I will have to return and examine that film again later. This information may be of some use in finding some living descendants in Latvia. I also found a marriage for a Till. All of these marriages are from the 1930s -so they are relatively recent.

Till research isn't going anywhere

I found the Till death record to which I had referred in my last post -well, one film of the two that cover that time period in that community. I did, however, find the death record of the Till who had died in 1827 and was born sometime in the 1770s. It didn't provide any further information -such as where the guy was born. I won't find anything more in birth or death records until I review the Revision lists. They are explained and will eventually be posted here.

No Truschinsky records in the two other films that had arrived. *sigh* I do hold out some hope for some Truschinsky records that are on order for another community. All of the dates that I would like to be covered are not available, but I would like at least one...preferably the one that is for Eduard Truschinsky's birth. That would be huge. It is very unlikely I will find that record, as he was born two years after the last available date of the records to arrive. As will Johann Till, I may have to get some luck with some Revision lists.

Tomorrow I review some records and DNA update

The records are for both Truschinsky and Till. I may have already reviewed the Till records, but I want to be sure I am hoping to find a more detailed death record that what I have found online (http://www.lvva-raduraksti.lv/en.html). The Truschinsky record (two of them, with a lot more on the way!) seeks to find a particular birth record for a Truschinsky, but I will still be quite pleased and a bit surprised if I find any Truschinskys -the records for this area haven't been particularly helpful. I get lots of references to this broad geographic region, but no supporting data to help me develop the links between three broad groups of Truschinskys. If I did find a particular birth record for this Truschinsky, I may be able to link the 20 or 30 individuals I found in the last few weeks with my existing tree. If I can, it will be very exciting and will very likely lead to some living relatives in Latvia!

DNA UPDATE: I have been notified by Family Tree DNA that my samples have arrived and will be heading out to their lab in the next week or so. While I am annoyed at the length of time this takes, I am still excited about the possibilities of where this might lead.

DNA UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: Family Tree DNA has now projected my tests will be complete by...get this...September 5. Ugh.

online resources

I've ordered about 9 films from the LDS and some should begin to arrive in the next week or so. So, I am waiting. While I've been waiting ...and waiting... I have been searching online for books that may be of use in my research. They are almost always in German or Latvian, but if I am only looking for a name or names amongst a list,that is still alright. Anyway, I have found three different German language books -two of which have names that are in my family history! One gentleman died in Kazan (I presume, Russia). That is a death record I would have never found if it were not for this source. Another who may be related worked and lived in a specific city in present-day Poland. I have also begun to realize that in World War I, much of Kurzeme (Kurland) was emptied of population. In fact, my grandmother and her family lived in Ukraine for those years of the war -and they were living in Riga just prior to that! I wonder, how many of my other relatives did not return to Latvia??
I also wonder, how many chose to fight for the Bolsheviks, and, when the Bolshviks didn't control Latvia right away (until after WWII), did they stay in Russia? I know that some Latvians did make that decision. Many civil wars have brother fighting brother. I do not see how this one might have been any different.
There are now -in my view- enough Trusinskys and Tills that I have found (etc) that it is probably likely that some moved to Russia and stayed...even to this day. At some point, I will try to look in Russian directories for the Russian spellings of Trusinsky. However, while I strongly suspect Dr. Karlis Trusinskis has looked at this website, but has not responded, how will I be able to get someone who probably isn't as worldly, but probably very suspicious, to communicate??

Additionally, I am not sure if I should be excited or disappointed with the lack of communication from Australia. I say that because he could be amassing quite a large amount of information (dates, data, pictures, etc) -as Gustav said he is on his behalf, or, perhaps, the issue is no longer being pursued by he and his family. Time will tell.

Truschinsky DNA test

The test has arrived and I will give a sample tonight. It requires three different swabs of the inner cheek. I will send it away tomorrow. I believe the company says that it takes about 3 weeks to get the results.

I want to encourage others to take said test if they feel that may be related (though it only works for the paternal heritage and only on males). The cost is $99 if you make your order as a part of a group/surname project (such as Trusinsky). Here is a link for more information. Also, here is a link to the Trusinsky project. I will post results on the second link.

You can also join a geographic project, as well or in lieu of, to get the discount. The test costs $149 if you do not get it through a project. So, if your heritage is Latvian -or German- you could join one of those groups.

I've found some more trusinskys

I received a response to my email/letter to the DBGG. It was a nice letter that didn't provide to many insights into what I was asking but there was one bit of information which directly let to me finding at least a DOZEN more Truschinskys! (not including children born of a marriage to a female Trusinsky who -hence- have a different surname) My earliest confirmed Truschinsky is a witness to a baptism and I am suspecting that he is a brother of the father. It also gave me a number of birth locations that should be useful -particularly since I ordered records from that area earlier last week. I've started a separate family tree file for the new Trusinskys and will only link them to my existing Trusinsky tree when I've proven a link between them. I am very confident that I will be able to do so!

Also, I sent out an email to a "suspected" "Trusinsky" in the US who I had found online. He responded and shared a bit of information which indicates that there may be a link. He has a relative that does some genealogy and forwarded my email and website to her. That reminds me -I should reply to the gentleman!

I'm back

We arrived from Europe this last Monday. Jane and I visited Iceland, Sweden (2nd time for me) and Finland.

Now that I am back, I have ordered my DNA kit from Family Tree DNA. I've started a group based upon my surname. If people have a similar surname to Trusinsky, they are invited to join the group and -in return- they receive a price $50 lower than if they joined on their own. The lower price is $99 for the base kit. The kit examines the DNA of a male descendant that remains unchanged from generation to generation. It is for this reason that the group is based upon the surname, as the son of Trusinsky has the surname of Trusinsky, etc. However, that being said, I have found at least 4 different spellings of Trusinsky in the documents I have found for my ancestors. I am sure that these are relatives (unless, of course, someone was adopted along the way...).

Here is the link to the project.

Another Trusinsky found!

This one was born in the early 1800s. I have yet another community into which I can search for more Trusinskys. I can't dig too much further, as I have a few items in which I need to make a bit more progress (Australia, Karlis Trusinskis, etc.)

Documents

Here are two documents for my father, Karl Trusinsky, who was named Karlis Trusinskis when he was born in Latvia. I am posting these in the event that Dr. Karlis Trusinskis sees this website, yet is skeptical of its authenticity. The first one he acquired on his first visit back to Latvia a few years ago. While I don't read (or speak) any Latvian, it looks as if the document shows my father's dad is named "Karlis", as well. That is wrong. My father's dad (my grandfather) is named Alexander. The second document, I believe, was given to his family while he was in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany after World War II.

I've also added two photographs to the slideshow on the right. These two pictures are of a few more individuals in Latvia and -possibly- the only pictures of who might be August Johann Theodor Trusinskis -a man whom we think died in 1972 in Riga and had "two wives and three children". The man was my grandfather's brother. I didn't realize that we had a picture of him until I had just scanned them. We have been unable to locate his children or grandchildren in Latvia.

REMEMBER: you can click on the pictures to enlarge them!!